Holiday Pictures

Winter is here in Cincinnati. Thanksgiving is a week away and the rush of the season will be upon us. We had our family pictures taken last weekend to beat the holiday rush and the pictures are quite adorable if I do say so myself. Today Mia turned 18 months, which is hard to believe. She is growing so much and looks like her daddy !! Maddy is still a spitting image of me. As the girls get older it is so cute to watch the interact. However, the past few weeks we have been experiencing the "joy" that goes along with interacting and they have started fighting. I am amazed at how an 18 month old can plan a sneak attack on her big sister's prized posessions (folding brush, Pez candy dispenser, and whatever happens to be the item of the day) and how she can hold her own in defending her stolen loot.

Halloween

Halloween seems like decades ago... We had so much fun getting ready for fall and Maddy was really into trick or treating this year, but sad news the morning after, has made this week seem like years.

Dr. Madelyn & Nurse Mia went trick or treating with Mom & Grandma and our neighbor Kylie and her mom, while Dad & Grandpa passed out candy and got the fire pit ready. Last year we only were out about 40 minutes before calling it a night. This year, houses were running out of candy at 7:30 as we made it back to the house. We came back and had yummy smores, they were sooo good !! We had to shower when we got in, because we stunk of smoke.

Little did I know that at the same time as our Halloween festivities, my close cousin Michael, was spending the last few minutes of his life. He was found dead at 8:40 PM in his apartment in NY. Toxicology results won't be in for another month, but they are thinking it could have been a reaction of medicines he took or a heart attack (brought on by a medication he was on). My sisters and I loaded in the car Sunday for a five hour visitation on Monday, Mass on Tuesday and left at 9PM Tuesday night, arriving home around 7 AM. Just enough time for me to sleep 3 hours and get to work around 11 to get everything done for the end of the month & our business unit presentation. Talk about an exhausting week and a tough time for the Gulla family.

Michael was the tough man, he was invincible. He fulfilled his lifelong dream of becoming a cop (despite many people along the way telling him he never would). He was the cousin closest in age to me and we loved each other like siblings, which meant we had our share of fights, but we really understood each other. While we did not get to see each other but once a year or so, we shared many fun times together. Vacations at Old Forge, Tupper Lake, & Watts Bar Lake. But whenever we would talk to each other it was like we had just spoken last week, not last year. We both stood up to the smokers in the family to not smoke in our faces. We both had kiddos in 2004 and David looks like Michael and Maddy is my twin. Mike made us all laugh, sometimes we were the butt of his jokes and sometimes he was laughing at himself. But most of all, Mike cared about people. He loved his family, his country, his music, his life. He lived life the way it was meant to be lived.

It is so surreal that Mike is gone from this Earth. Rome, NY will never be the same without Mike. It is a comfort to know that Mike is in heaven and no longer suffering from his pain on Earth. The priest let us know that instead he was causing pains/resting the peacefulness of those who went before him. I look forward to seeing Mike again in heaven, but will wait for God's time to decide when. We are certainly not promised tomorrow, so love today like there is no tomorrow. I miss you Mike !!


http://www.memorialsolutions.com/sitemaker/sites/griffi0/obit.cgi?user=2008-23

More Fall Fun

The Girls were dressed in their new cute fall clothes for church one Sunday, and we were actually running ahead of schedule, so I decided to take a few pictures:

We've made it a fall tradition to visit a pumpkin farm with our friends each year. We went back to Hidden Valley Fruit Farm on 48 where Maddy enjoyed the bouncy, train ride, pony ride and we all took a hayride on the property which ended up in the "baby pumpkin" patch. It was so hot that day and I wanted the girls in their Halloween longsleeve shirts- weird October weather we have here in Cincinnati...
Above: Mia & Daddy; Below: Luke & Maddy




The cute sister photo in the pile of pumpkins quickly turned ugly

when Mia did not get a piece of popcorn...
The kiddos and the daddies: Brandon, Mia, Luke, Chris, Katelyn, Maddy, Matt & Mitchell



Emily & Kevin said "I do" on Saturday 10/18. It was a beautiful fall day and everything worked out just great for them. We wish you all the best Mr. & Mrs. Kevin Burke !!!

Mia in her sister's handy-me-down Gap Sweatshirt. I have the exact same pics of Maddy at the fall display when she was Mia's age...

I took the day off work and took Maddy to the zoo with Mary & Joshua Darst (my future son in law). On the way home Joshua asks, "Maddy, will you marry me." Maddy responds, "Not now, but when I get big I can." It was quite funny. We had a great time at the zoo ! We got to feed the giraffes, ride the carousel and take a train ride.

Ah, fall !

We are finally feeling like fall in Cincinnati. The weather has been great and we get to enjoy some of our favorite outdoor adventures. We have had another busy weekend spending Saturday visiting Ms. Emily & her sore foot and then parading around the zoo. Sunday we went to Young's Dairy up in Dayton for a true taste of fall- what a treat ! It's a very affordable family outing that I recommend to all with young kids. We took the tractor to the pumpkin patch and for $6 a piece we picked some HUGE pumpkins. Madelyn loved the Moovers & Shakers ride - she suckered us into 2 rides and Mia loved petting the goats. Of course you can't visit Young's without some of their DELICIOUS homemade ice cream which we waited in line for quite a while for.

September also brought my 30th birthday where I got to go away with my husband for 4 nights to Baltimore and just relax, have fun and be an adult. It was a great weekend- we had such an amazing time together. I felt like all we did was eat and sleep (and catch an Orioles baseball game and the Bengals/Ravens home opener) but it was a great trip.


The next weekend in September brought some weird weather to Ohio, we had a windstorm courtesy of Hurricane Ike that knocked power out to most of the city for days, somehow we were spared. We had to replace our roof, grill and patio table, but thankfully nobody was hurt by the 70 + mile per hour winds. Nobody realized the magnitude of what was coming, Maddy and I were out shopping for shower gifts, debating if we should try to go to the store even though we could barely open the car door and debris was blowing everywhere.

The following weekend we had a shower for Emily, followed by a Reds game in lieu of a Bachelorette party. I picked up a nasty staph infection on my chin and looked like a leper for a week.

We celebrated all our September birthdays at Mom's house the last weekend in September as well as our 8 year anniversary with dinner at El Coyote. It was a laid back night where horrible service didn't seem to be such a bad thing.

September Birthdays (Note Carrie's Face Funk and that was 5 days post antibiotics):

The Family:

We spent Septembger getting back into a routine. Madelyn is at a new preschool where she goes Tues-Thursday mornings. She really likes it.

I somehow have overcommitted us during the week though. Brandon coaches upward football on Mondays, Madelyn has soccer on Tuesdays (which is absolutely adorable to watch and she loves it) and Madelyn has cubbies on Wednesdays. Saturday AMs Maddy has swim lessons and Brandon coaches his flag football team. He loves coaching and giving back to the community, but he is so competitive that not winning is hard on him. This team is really helping him to realize that as long as they are working hard and having fun that is all that counts. Hopefully it is a good test for when he coaches his own girls in sports.

Maddy's 1st soccer practice:

Mia looks like she might make a good goalie some day !

Mia eating her way through practice...

Mia enjoying being a big girl and playing outside on the playset !

So I think that catches everyone up on us and one day I'll get more regular about updating our blog !